Introduction To Robotics

Coding is becoming a vitally important skill in the 21st century and having the fundamental knowledge will help a child in any field of study.
It is, therefore, with great excitement that we announce that Union High School held its very first Robotics lesson today!
This ๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฆ๐™ช๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง๐™–๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š ๐™˜๐™ก๐™–๐™จ๐™จ saw a select few learners being introduced to this exciting subject.
The enthusiasm of the learners was tangible as they played around with basic coding languages and studied the principles of coding.
Union extends its grateful ๐—ง๐—›๐—”๐—ก๐—ž๐—ฆ to the Care for Education Foundation whose donation of several Mindstorm EV3 robotic kits have made this a possibility. We also extend our thanks to the Union educators who have made themselves available to study and, in turn, teach our learners all about Robotics.
Lastly, we’d also like to thank Mr Ross Hulleman for his willingness to assist with the lessons.

Junior Interschools Athletics

๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ต๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐˜€๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐˜€
The annual ๐—๐—จ๐—ก๐—œ๐—ข๐—ฅ ๐—œ๐—ก๐—ง๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—ฆ๐—–๐—›๐—ข๐—ข๐—Ÿ๐—ฆ ๐—”๐—ง๐—›๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—ง๐—œ๐—–๐—ฆ event between the Union Schools and Laer Volkskool was held this afternoon, Tuesday, 8 February.
The meet was hosted by Union with various items such as long jump, high jump, shot put, sprints, middle-distance running and relays taking place on Union High School’s sports grounds.
On the one hand, it was a fierce, gruelling battle with Volkskool and Unionโ€™s best young athletes having to dig deep in order to put on their best performances for the crowd and the schools they represent.
On the other hand, it was ๐™– ๐™Ÿ๐™ค๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™จ ๐™˜๐™š๐™ก๐™š๐™—๐™ง๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ and the chance for learners to see their hard work and talents come into fruition on the field.
The tremendous effort, attitude and willingness of the learners โ€“ from both schools – were great to see and created such a sense of fun, and a spirit of great sportsmanship on the day.
Congratulations to all the athletes involved for their efforts and participation – we could well have witnessed some budding athletic stars of the future!
โ€ข ๐˜ˆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฌ๐˜ด๐˜ฌ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ 685 ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏโ€™๐˜ด 566 ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด.
Visitย https://www.facebook.com/unionhighschool/ to view ย photographs of the event.

2022 RCL Elected

Union High School recently elected class representatives as well as a new Representative Council of Learners (RCL).
The ๐™˜๐™ก๐™–๐™จ๐™จ ๐™ง๐™š๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™š๐™จ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š๐™จ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ข๐™š๐™ข๐™—๐™š๐™ง๐™จ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™๐˜พ๐™‡ ๐™–๐™ง๐™š, ๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™–๐™ก๐™ก ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ข๐™š๐™จ, ๐™š๐™ญ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™š๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™˜๐™–๐™ง๐™ง๐™ฎ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ข๐™จ๐™š๐™ก๐™ซ๐™š๐™จ ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ ๐™š๐™ญ๐™˜๐™š๐™ก๐™ก๐™š๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™š ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™š๐™ฅ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™ข๐™ž๐™จ๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™– ๐™๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™ง๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ง ๐™จ๐™๐™ค๐™ช๐™ก๐™™ ๐™—๐™š: kind, caring and sensitive to the needs of others; hard-working and motivated to bring about positive change in their environment; honest, trustworthy and dependable; but, most of all, proud of their school and the opportunity to serve others.
This is what the RCL of Union High School strives constantly towards.
Congratulations to:
๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฎ ๐—–๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€
๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿด:
Tristan Hope
Taegan Hamid
Shiraz Pedersen
Kimberley Menos
Josh Arends
Rebecca Copeman
๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฎ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—น ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€
๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿต:
Siyolo Somgqeza
Sasha Cochrane
Trystan Hulleman
Erin Gedult
Aaminah Steele
Shaakir Kazi
๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ:
Naโ€™eem Mahomed
Caytah-Leigh Koeberg (๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ-๐˜š๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜บ)
Tyra Binney
Joshua Swartland
๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ:
Ryan Jenneke
Dennisha Fortuin
Joshua Horne (๐˜š๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜บ)
Ngomusa Zweni (๐˜›๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ)
Cassidy Goliad
Shona Zana
๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ:
Ijabulile Mtwazi
Singalakha Mapekula
Ruzhe Hendricks (๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ-๐˜—๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต)
Kathryn Odendaal (๐˜—๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต)

Taking Teaching Outside

Union High Schoolโ€™s learners returned to school this year with an enhanced educational locale – an ๐—ข๐—จ๐—ง๐——๐—ข๐—ข๐—ฅ ๐—–๐—Ÿ๐—”๐—ฆ๐—ฆ๐—ฅ๐—ข๐—ข๐— .
The idea was conceptualised by the SGB during 2021, and, thanks to a generous sponsor, was completed at the start of 2022.
The space is a new addition that highlights the advantages of outdoor learning and access to nature, both known to increase learner enthusiasm and as being beneficial to social, emotional and physical health.
Located next to the Tony Burrell Union, the outdoor classroom features new flooring, elegant desks and an outdoor whiteboard on the side of the building to aid the teachers.
The classroom has already proven a hit among learners and staff alike and is being utilised by classes from both the high school and middle school on a daily basis.
โžค This is the first of several such spaces planned for the Union campus over the next couple of years.
๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต, ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ซ๐˜ฐ๐˜บ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ.

Teacher Development

Award-winning teacher and author, Dr Neila A. Connors, once said, โ€œ๐˜๐˜ง ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ’๐˜ต ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜›๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜Œ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด!โ€
At Union High School we believe in keeping our teachers well-fed professionally because great teachers help create great students.
In fact, research shows that an inspiring and informed teacher is the most important school-related factor influencing learner achievement, so it is critical to pay close attention to how we train and support both new and experienced educators.
We are, therefore, very excited to announce that ๐™ฌ๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ก๐™ก ๐™—๐™š ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ช๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ๐™๐™ž๐™ฅ ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ ๐™†๐™š๐™ก๐™ก๐™š๐™ง ๐™€๐™™๐™ช๐™˜๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ฎ๐™š๐™–๐™ง.
Initiated in January 2021, Unionโ€™s ongoing professional development through Keller Education keeps our teachers up-to-date on new research on how children learn, emerging technology tools for the classroom and more.
As the best professional development is ongoing, experiential, collaborative, and connected to and derived from working with learners and understanding their culture, we feel incredibly fortunate to be able to provide our teachers with this training and look forward to partnering with Keller Education again in 2022!

Girl’s Day Out

This past Saturday morning, 29 January, saw the gardens of Union Preparatory School brimming with more than 200 ladies dressed in their finery, delicious eats and plenty of laughter, for the annual ๐—š๐—œ๐—ฆ๐—˜๐—Ÿ๐—” ๐—ž๐—œ๐—ก๐—š๐—ช๐—œ๐—Ÿ๐—Ÿ ๐— ๐—ข๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—ฅ & ๐——๐—”๐—จ๐—š๐—›๐—ง๐—˜๐—ฅ ๐— ๐—ข๐—ฅ๐—ก๐—œ๐—ก๐—š hosted by Union High Schoolโ€™s Grade 11 Matric Farewell Fundraising Committee.
This delightful event โ€“ themed โ€˜Pretty in Pastelsโ€™ – formed part of the 2022 Foundersโ€™ Weekend activities as Union High School celebrated its 103rd birthday.
The guest speakers, Mrs Sophia van Heerden (left) and Ms Adrienne Westman (right), shared their inspiring personal stories and it was most uplifting listening to their experiences and witnessing the boldness with which they spoke about their Christian faith.
To top it all off, a few lucky draws were held to the delight of the winners!
All in all a wonderful morning was had by all.
Union High School extends its grateful thanks to all those who attended for their support of this fundraising endeavour. A special word of thanks is also extended to the following businesses for their contribution to this event – ๐™ˆ๐™š๐™ง๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ค ๐™‹๐™๐™–๐™ง๐™ข๐™–๐™˜๐™ฎ, ๐™ƒ๐™š๐™–๐™ก๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™Ž๐™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ, ๐˜ผ๐™ก๐™˜๐™๐™š๐™ข๐™ฎ ๐™Ž๐™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ & ๐˜ฝ๐™ค๐™™๐™ฎ, ๐™Ž๐™˜๐™๐™ค๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™๐™ช๐™ž๐™™, ๐™ˆ๐™ž๐™š๐™ข๐™จ ๐™ƒ๐™–๐™ž๐™ง ๐™Ž๐™–๐™ก๐™ค๐™ฃ, ๐™†๐™–๐™ง๐™ค๐™ค ๐™‡๐™ž๐™ซ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ, ๐™‹๐™ž๐™˜๐™  ๐™ฃ ๐™‹๐™–๐™ฎ, ๐™Š๐™ช๐™ง ๐™”๐™–๐™ง๐™™, ๐™๐™๐™š ๐˜ฟ๐™ง๐™ค๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™™๐™ฎ ๐™ƒ๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ก, ๐™ƒ๐™ฎ๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™๐™–๐™ž, ๐™‹๐™ง๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™จ๐™ก๐™ค๐™ค ๐™‹๐™๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™œ๐™ง๐™–๐™ฅ๐™๐™ฎ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™‹๐™ง๐™ค๐™›๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ.
Visit https://www.facebook.com/unionhighschool/ to view more photographs of the event.

Founders’ Day: Clash Of Youth Vs Experience

Founder’s Day Cricket

This past Saturday, 29 January, Union High School hosted another mighty cricket clash between the Old Boys and the schoolโ€™s young cricketers in honour of the school’s Foundersโ€™ Weekend.
The day saw 40-over matches being contested between Unionโ€™s u/15 cricketers and their dads/Old Boys at the Botanics Sports Grounds, Unionโ€™s 3rd team and Old Boys at Hoรซr Volkskool and Unionโ€™s 2nd team and Old Boys on Unionโ€™s Puttick Field, with a 50-over match being played on Unionโ€™s Minnaar field between Unionโ€™s 1st team and the Old Boys.
The matches were played in buoyant spirit with a number of festive โ€œ20-somethingsโ€ bringing lots of banter and great fun. In the end, the four Old Boysโ€™ teams managed to edge out their younger opponents in their respective encounters.
As the matches are not only about what happens on the cricket pitch, but the fun had on the sidelines and afterwards, ๐™ฌ๐™šโ€™๐™™ ๐™ก๐™ž๐™ ๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™š๐™ญ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™– ๐™œ๐™ง๐™–๐™ฉ๐™š๐™›๐™ช๐™ก ๐™ฌ๐™ค๐™ง๐™™ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ ๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™–๐™ก๐™ก ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™Š๐™ก๐™™ ๐˜ฝ๐™ค๐™ฎ๐™จ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™/๐™ค๐™ง ๐˜ฟ๐™–๐™™๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™˜๐™ž๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™š๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ข๐™–๐™ ๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฉ ๐™จ๐™ช๐™˜๐™ ๐™– ๐™ข๐™š๐™ข๐™ค๐™ง๐™–๐™—๐™ก๐™š ๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ.
The annual prizegiving ceremony was held in the Tony Burrell Union that same evening, after the dayโ€™s play. (๐˜”๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ต.)
We trust that the Old Boys are looking forward to a period of recovery until next year’s game. Hope to see you there!

Founder’s Day Hockey

The traditional ๐—™๐—ข๐—จ๐—ก๐——๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—ฆโ€™ ๐—ช๐—˜๐—˜๐—ž๐—˜๐—ก๐—— ๐—›๐—ข๐—–๐—ž๐—˜๐—ฌ ๐— ๐—”๐—ง๐—–๐—› between Union High School’s 1st team and an Old Girlsโ€™ team was played on Friday afternoon, 28 January.
Those taking to the field for the Old Girls were a mix of alumnae joined by current and past teachers Hetma Holmes, Amor Mey and Sandia Barnard. There were even two Union dads โ€“ Mark Shires and Coert Vorster – pitting their skill against that of the 1st team girls.
While some of the Old Girls who played are a regular fixture at our school, such as Suzanne Marais, Chanzelle Heunis and Diane Murray, we were especially privileged to welcome back to the high schoolโ€™s campus Sulette (nรฉe Damons) Kotzee, Class of 2007, for the match, as well as more recent alumna, Donnรฉ Marais, Jenna McNaughton, Laeticia Theron, Micaela Harris, Kiah Hoffman, Marche Green and Lauren Rose-Innes.
An added element of fun was sisters Jade (now an Old Girl) and Chloe Shires, who plays for Unionโ€™s 1st team, competing against each other on the field.
All of this contributed to a great atmosphere around the Union High School AstroTurf.
The game was a fiercely competitive one, which saw the Old Girlsโ€™ giving it their all to obtain a 6-4 victory.
“Education is important, but, moments like these are as well,โ€ commented the eventโ€™s organiser Jennifer Hope. “Such a great day to be a Union alumna.”
๐˜ž๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ. ๐˜๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ!

Celebrating 103 Years

Friday, 28 January, marked the occasion of the Union High Schoolโ€™s 103rd birthday.
As is tradition, the day was celebrated with a Foundersโ€™ Day Assembly, which felt particularly special, as we were all able to come together again in the school hall after a trying two years.
This annual celebration sees the school community โ€“ past and present – coming together ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ง๐™š๐™›๐™ก๐™š๐™˜๐™ฉ ๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™จ๐™˜๐™๐™ค๐™ค๐™กโ€™๐™จ ๐™ฅ๐™–๐™จ๐™ฉ and those that have helped to shape who we are, and to acknowledge the community members, both past and present, who have influenced the character and values that embody the vibrant, engaging, socially inclusive and safe environment we see today.
This yearโ€™s special assembly was opened by the schoolโ€™s principal, Mr William Pringle. He extended a word of welcome to all those present and delivered a short devotion. Following this, the Union High School song, was beautifully sung by the learners.
Headboy Matthew Basson then offered the school prayer, after which Mr Pringle spoke about the history of the school, subtly reminding all those present of the tradition and strength behind it.
Headgirl Kendall Krige, learner Sixolile Singeni and UPS learner Keith Hudson then delivered special messages in honour of the occasion.
๐˜ผ ๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™ฎ ๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™˜๐™ž๐™–๐™ก ๐™–๐™™๐™™๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ฎ๐™š๐™–๐™งโ€™๐™จ ๐˜ผ๐™จ๐™จ๐™š๐™ข๐™—๐™ก๐™ฎ, ๐™ฌ๐™–๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™– ๐™ฌ๐™๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™š ๐™—๐™ก๐™–๐™ฏ๐™š๐™ง ๐™—๐™š๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™š๐™จ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™Š๐™ก๐™™ ๐™๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™š ๐™Ž๐™ช๐™ก๐™š๐™ฉ๐™ฉ๐™š (๐™ฃรฉ๐™š ๐˜ฟ๐™–๐™ข๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™จ) ๐™†๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™ฏ๐™š๐™š, ๐™ฌ๐™๐™ค ๐™Ÿ๐™ค๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™š๐™™ ๐™ช๐™จ ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™˜๐™ž๐™–๐™ก ๐™ค๐™˜๐™˜๐™–๐™จ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ.
The blazer was gifted to Mrs Kotzee in recognition of her Honours Award she obtained while at school for exceptional all-round achievement and meritorious service to the school. (An Honours Award is one of the highest accolades presented at Union and is only awarded on very rare occasions.)
Mr Dave Stern, Chairman of the Old Unionite Association, stepped up to present her with the blazer. The standing ovation Mrs Kotzee received was a reflection of the approval of all those present.
After the cake was presented and the candles lit, the learners filed their way out of the hall to fetch their doughnuts and watch the sports for the afternoon.
๐ŸŽฅ ๐˜ˆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ: https://youtu.be/Wr1ula7VS3s

Senior Interhouse Athletics

๐—”๐—น๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป
On Wednesday morning, 26 January, Union High School held a memorable ๐—ฆ๐—˜๐—ก๐—œ๐—ข๐—ฅ ๐—œ๐—ก๐—ง๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—›๐—ข๐—จ๐—ฆ๐—˜ ๐—”๐—ง๐—›๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—ง๐—œ๐—–๐—ฆ meeting.
The blistering heat did not deter the excited competitors, as they walked out proudly in their house colours, chanting cheers, eager to push themselves on both the track and on the field.
Thanks are extended to the House Captains of Daly – Ijabulele Mtwazi and Keratile Nqabeni – as well as those of Arnott – Bubele Thibini and Yandisa Sinyanya – for ensuring that spirits remained high throughout the day.
Competition was fierce but fun and several ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฉ ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ง๐™›๐™ค๐™ง๐™ข๐™–๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™š๐™จ were delivered on the day:
โ€ข Sisipho Arnols was a joy to watch in the Boys Open 100m (11.03s) and 200m (24,16s)
โ€ข Musa Zweni put forth a stellar effort in the Girls u/17 Shot Put (8,19m)
โ€ข As always, the Boys u/17 100m event was a thriller, with Joshua Swartland coming out tops in 11,5s.
โ€ข Dylan Petitt received two first places โ€“ one in Shotput and one in the Discus event.
โ€ข Grade 12 girls, Chloe Shires and Kendall Krige, both claimed three 1st places โ€“ their tutus didnโ€™t hold them back one bit!
โ€ข Grade 8s Ben Lemke and Misha Newton also performed very well in their track events.
โžค This yearโ€™s ๐—ช๐—œ๐—ก๐—ก๐—œ๐—ก๐—š ๐—›๐—ข๐—จ๐—ฆ๐—˜ is Arnott, with 941 points compared to Dalyโ€™s 816.
๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ!
As always, Union High School extends its thanks to the parents who volunteered on the day, as well as to the Old Unionites, staff and learners that assisted the officials.
Visit https://www.facebook.com/unionhighschool/ to view photographs of the event